Luxembourg ranked 2nd in global green index

Luxembourg has been ranked the second greenest country in the world, according to a report from Yale and Columbia Universities.

23.04.2014

Luxembourg has been ranked the second greenest country in the world, according to a report from Yale and Columbia Universities.

The 2014 Environmental Performance Index puts the Grand Duchy in second place out of 178 countries and just behind top country Switzerland.

Among the aspects on which the country was given a score, Luxembourg performed best in the category for “Biodiversity and Habitat” and “Water and Sanitation”, in which it obtained 100 percent respectively.

Indeed, the country has set aside 17 percent of its environment to be protected. While Luxembourg did well overall, it fared poorly on “Air Quality” (ranked 80th) and Agriculture (ranked 93rd).

The former is likely down to the fact that Luxembourg lags behind in achieving its renewable energy targets. According to recent figures, only 3.1 percent of the country's energy came from renewables, making it the second-worst offender in Europe.

The Environmental Performance Index is produced annually and ranks countries based on 20 factors. According to the latest report, the top 10 greenest countries were:

Switzerland

Luxembourg

Australia

Singapore

Czech Republic

Germany

Spain

Austria

Sweden

Norway

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